1.Everyone shall possess the right to freely express and publicise his thoughts in words, images or by any other means, as well as the right to inform others, inform himself and be informed without hindrance or discrimination
2.Exercise of the said rights shall not be hindered or limited by any type or form of censorship
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Article 37.º

Dunedin Police say that they did receive information from a member of the public who believed she saw Madeleine McCann in a Dunedin retail outlet in December 2007.

Acting Southern District Commander, Inspector David Campbell, said police spoke with the informant to establish what had been seen and sought pictures from the retailer involved.

A report was filed by an attending officer and police worked closely with the retailer to start an inquiry and obtained security footage of the child, who had the appearance of Madeleine McCann, and the family with her.

Hard copies of the security pictures were given to police. Police then requested electronic copies but these were not available.

Police were unable to obtain any further information or ongoing lines of inquiry.

The file was forwarded to Interpol and this is correct procedure under international agreements. The lead jurisdiction, in this case, Portugal, directs how the case progresses and has not asked NZ Police for any follow-up to date.

The woman who made a sighting in New Zealand of what she believes was missing British girl Madeleine McCann, has spoken exclusively to ONE News.

Taryn Dryfhout was working as a checkout operator at Warehouse store in south Dunedin in late 2007 when a family of a man, a woman and a boy and girl came to the checkout.

"I was stricken by the wee girl who looked just like Madeleine McCann," she says.

Dryfhout spoke with the woman who had an English accent, and then spoke to the girl.

"She had an English accent as well and she told me that her name was Hayley and was quite apprehensive...and sort've stammered over her words when she was trying to think of her name," says Dryfhout.

"She was just very shy and afraid."

video update

Madeleine vanished from her room at the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, just days before her fourth birthday.

Despite a global search effort, she has not been found.

Dryfhout described the man and woman with the child as "a little bit suspicious".

"I spoke to the woman only, not the man, and she seemed like she would rather I that I wasn't speaking to her. She sort've tried to keep ending the conversation...she was just in a little bit of a hurry to get out I think."

Dryfhout describes the woman as being "bigger" with short blond hair. She cannot remember the details of the man very well, and says the boy was older than the girl, perhaps 12 years old.

A short time after approaching the girl and her parents, Dryfhout contacted her manager and the police.

She says after the store handed over security camera footage she never heard anything more, until Wednesday.

Information just released by a Portuguese court shows Dryfhout's possible sighting and dozens of others were filed away by Portuguese police and not investigated.

London's Daily Mail reports the McCann family is shocked and angry to hear for the first time of the now possible sighting dating back two years, and has labelled the footage of the child as "striking".

Dunedin police say they followed correct procedure and said in a statement it was "unable to obtain any further information or ongoing lines of inquiry", and that the file remains open.

Now, two years after the footage was handed over, police have once again spoken to Dryfhout, asking her to remember details about the sighting of the girl she believes was Madeleine.

"They started asking me questions I should have been asked at the time. They asked me things like 'how had the family paid for their purchase?'...and they wanted quite detailed descriptions of the people."

Dryfhout says she often thinks about the sighting, especially when it resurfaces in the news, and wonders if things would have been different if it had been handled differently.

She says it did not occur to her at the time to go to the media with what she had seen.

"I guess I thought that the police would take a long time with the inquiry because it's an overseas issue, and it was quite a few weeks before I realised that I wasn't going to hear anything at all."

Dryfhourt says her own attempts to find Madeleine McCann's parents were unsuccessful, though she did leave a message through a website that appeared to be connected to the family.

She says it is disappointing that her possible sighting was not followed through.

Ah, so sorry, but we do not take unwanted messsages as long as these are not combined with an invitation to meet with the Head of State and/or religious leader of any particular country. This one we passed on to the PJ, and we are still laughing, but of course it comes in handy if and when we need headlines to cover other information coming out which we do not want to be noticed.From a source near to the the McCs

I think it entirely possible that the McCanns will announce that one of these new pictures is infact their missing child Madeleine. They will be totally convinced and then the hunt will really commence. Unfortuneately the hunt probably wont lead anywhere. However, it they announce the sighting it will take the heat off them and whip the media into a frenzy and create new fund raising opportunities. God forbid, however, they are capable of this.

You may call it New Zealand, but we call it a hellish lair.You may think it is a long way away, but we know it is within 10 miles of Praia da Luz.We know. Because that is what our No 1 Private Detective Agency says.And one day, one day soon, one day very very soon, ..... we are going to start looking for her. And when we find her in the hellish lair you will all be sorry you doubted us. Just you wait !

"I spoke to the woman only, not the man, and she seemed like she would rather I that I wasn't speaking to her. She sort've tried to keep ending the conversation...she was just in a little bit of a hurry to get out I think."

I'm not surprised. Another innocent person that couldn't venture out with their child without being harassed by a wannabe Madeleine spotter. What an idiot not to see that the woman was creeped out by her.

Memo to Taryn Dryfhout: The McCanns love people like you as long as you speak to the police and the press. But not them.

I will be also afraid if somebody come to me and start asking questions about me and my child's, even if my child's are tan and a little older then Madeleine. Mccann's create a psychoses similar to the September eleven to all the parents of little girls. First by spreading the idea of abductors and pahedos running around the world. Second by bringing to the front page of the newspapers all sort of persons of interest connected with the label- ABDUCTOR,PAHEDO, BAD, UGGLY, etc. This is why I'm not surprised if the all family look nervous and suspect in front of a so inquisitive lady.

First Mr. Mitchell, Abductors and Pahedos are clever... they don't go to places where they can be caught by CCTV and there is a high risk to have working CCTV at stores, supermarkets, coffee bars, petrol stations, banks, etc. YOU DID NOT FIND MADELEINE IF YOUR STRATEGY IS TO INVESTIGATE THIS SIGHTS. BY THE WAY- What happened to the cellar near PDL, where the "Detective Number one", Edgar, claim that Maddie was hiding? HE WAS SO SURE, THAT YOU MUST SUE HIM AND DISMISSE HIM FOR WASTING TIME, MONEY and all the etc that we can imagine.

Of course the McCanns were not interested they knew it was not her, like all the other sightings are not her. It will not matter a tad that its all BS over and over as the gutter press will print and print and it keeps the McCanns in the limelight as victims and will help them in the libel actions. Its disgusting and new lows are reached every month with this lot.

Huge blue eyes?! Did Madeleine have blue eyes? Or green?And I'm not surprised the girl was not at ease with a complete stranger asking her questions, her name, etc., most children that age are shy with strangers and parents often tell them NOT to speak to strangers.The NZ police followed the case, they found nothing and moreover, the portuguese police just could not pack and go to NZ, they had to request permits from the NZ authorities, follow a strickt protocol that takes time. What is always done is to rely on the local polioce to investigate, and, according to the results of that investigation , if they are relevant or not, then will the PJ decide if it's necessary to go to the place and join the investigations.

I sincerelly hope that that family will come forward, but I bet they will have second, third and fourth thoughts about it! Every single person who gets involved with this sick business can only expect harrassement and headaches.I'm also afraid that even if they come forward that we won't hear about it from the media...it would not be good to descredit this "unfollowed" lead and justify the PJ, oh no, the McCanns wouyld not like that!

How she travelled from Portugal to New Zealand, By air or by sea? How many stop-overs she had until reaching New Zealand? We know... the abductor is an expert in invisibility and flying trough the windows leaving no trace. But what about Madeleine? How the most known, mediatic girl manage to foolish all the people in airports or ports where she pass? THIS IS SO SURREAL THAT IT IS LAUGHABLE. THANKS THAT THE PORTUGUESE POLICE DID NOT FOLLOW THIS SIGHT FURTHER AFTER WHAT THE NEW ZEALAND POLICE ALREADY INVESTIGATE. THAT MEANS PORTUGUESE POLICE ARE VERY COMPETENT AND DON'T WAIST MONEY FROM PUBLIC TAXES, EVEN IF IS NOT PORTUGUESE MONEY, WITHOUT STRONG EVIDENCES TO SUPPORT EVERY CLAIM. FOR THE POLICE AN INVESTIGATION IS SOMETHING SERIOUS WHICH DISTURB PEOPLE AND PRODUCE MORE DAMAGE THEN PROFITES IF IS BADLY HANDED -UP. WE KNOW, for the Mccann's, an investigation is a game, no matter if one of their child's is the issue. THEY USE MADELEINE AS AN OBJECT TO SUIT THEIR AGENDA. AND THEIR AGENDA AT MOMENT IS MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. THEY WON THE INJUCTION, NOW THEY HAVE TO PAY THE LAWYERS AND ALL People THEY CORRUPTED TO GAGG AMARAL AND FORBBID THE BOOK. Gerry salary was not enough to pay such luxury and the VIP Dinner was a fraud, they don't raise 1/10 of the money they claim in the Media. SICK THE WAY THEY WERE EXPLORING MADDIE IMAGE AND TRAGEDY, during this almost 3 years. Wonder which event they are planning for Maddie next Birthday and to "commemorate" her 3 years of disappearance.

On top of all, the Mccann's already realised that gagging Amaral and forbidding the book did not change anything. PEOPLE STILL NOT BELIEVING ON THEIR CHARADE AND THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEBODY WITH AUTHORITY DEFENDING IN THE MEDIA THAT MADELEINE DIED IN MAY 2007.

These "sightings" remind me of the old newspaper football competitions, where you had to put a cross through the exact spot where the ball was in the picture. Using a world atlas, the MCs are inviting competitors to place a cross on the exact Madeleine sighting. The British press will then chase off in pursuit.

A short time after approaching the girl she contacted her manager whats a short time? why didnt this reporter ask her to be specific on what her idea of a short time was and what website she contacted?Doesnt it tell us something that she never heard from the NZ police ever again after their initial questioning of her?

If you or I were so adamant that the girl was Madeleine we would be out taking vehicle details etc and on our mobile phones straight away to the nearest police station or 911 or whatever franticly telling them that you had just seen Madeleine Mc cann.

Was the big reward available at this stage?

How many of these supposedly previously unheard of sightings were reported to the MCcann reward hotline first?Imo team mc cann has come up with all these "old/new sightings" so as they can point the finger at Goncalo in the libel case and claim all thes "sightings were not followed up because of his book and the officers who followed his thesis.

Re your last paragraph...you could also say that hundreds of sightings were followed up and are still being reported so there was no reason to ban the book/sue etc........not that it would have mad any difference to them